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By Staff Reporters

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Kentucky-based healthcare provider Norton Healthcare has confirmed that it has suffered a significant ransomware attack that may have put the data of millions of its patients at risk. In a filing to the Maine Attorney General on December 8th, the healthcare giant said that 2.5 million individuals had been affected by the breach.

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Meanwhile, the nation’s largest pharmacy chains have handed over Americans’ prescription records to police and government investigators without a warrant, a congressional investigation found, raising concerns about threats to medical privacy. Though some of the chains require their lawyers to review law enforcement requests, three of the largest — CVS Health, Kroger and Rite Aid, with a combined 60,000 locations nationwide — said they allow pharmacy staff members to hand over customers’ medical records in the store.

The policy was revealed in a letter sent to Xavier Becerra, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.).

HIPAA anyone?

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Here’s where the major benchmarks ended:

• The S&P 500 index was up 21.26 points (0.5%) at 4,643.70; the Dow Jones Industrial Average®(DJI) was up 173.01 points (0.5%) at 36,577.94; the NASDAQ Composite® (COMP) was up 100.91 points (0.7%) at 14,533.40.
• The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) was down about 3 basis points at 4.206%.
• The CBOE® Volatility Index (VIX) was down 0.56 at 12.07.

Technology shares were among Tuesday’s strongest performers despite a 12% drop in Oracle (ORCL), which plunged after reporting lighter-than-expected quarterly revenue late Monday. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) posted its highest close since January 2022.

Financial shares were also firm. Energy shares were under pressure because WTI Crude Oil futures (/CL) extended a slump below $70 per barrel and settled at its lowest price since late June.

Here is where the major benchmarks ended:

• CITE: https://www.r2library.com/Resource

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Filed under: Alternative Investments, Financial Planning, Funding Basics, Glossary Terms, Information Technology, Investing, Touring with Marcinko | Tagged: banks, COMP, crude, DHHS, DJIAm, EHRs, electronic medical records, EMRs, energy, gold, HIPAA, HIT, inflation, iol, IT, Marcinko, markets, medical records, metals, NASDAQ, norton, norton hacked, oil, ORCL, Pramila Jayapal, real-estate, Ron Wyden, Russell Index 2000, RUT, S&P 500, Sara Jacobs, SOX, stock markets, TNX, utilities, WTI, Xavier Becerra |